Lady Elks hang tough against Forbush

Elkin hung tough against a red-hot Forbush squad Tuesday night, staging a furious comeback that fell just short. The Lady Falcons hung on for the 55-41 victory to win their second-straight Mountain Valley Conference win.

“They played really hard, except for the first three minutes. We played Forbush pretty equal except for the first three minutes and the last two minutes. And that’s what counts,” head coach Derek Carter said. “We knew Savannah could shoot, so it wasn’t a surprise. We just have to execute and we did. We just have to make some shots. We’re wide open and we’re finally starting to hit some shots.”

Elkin fell behind early as the Lady Falcons came out firing on all cylinders.

Forbush jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead behind hot-shooting Shannon Holden and Savannah Hill. The Falcons pushed their lead out to 23-10 on the first play of the second quarter.

The Elks found their stroke in the second, pouring in 15 points - including a 5-0 burst to close the half - to cut the deficit to seven at 32-25 at the halftime horn.

Elkin held serve in the third, matching each Falcon score and went to the fourth quarter within striking distance at 42-34.

The Lady Elks were unable to close the gap, only scoring seven points in the final frame as Forbush held them scoreless for the final 2:21, breezing to the 55-41 victory.

“We scored in the 40s, that’s the [second] most we’ve scored all year. Hopefully we’re starting to find our speed of the game,” Carter explained. “We changed some things at practice and I think it has helped. When you’re open and can hit some shots, you can hang around in games.”

In a balanced scoring night, Carrie Brown powered the Elks with 10 points on the night. Makayla Dimmette tacked on nine points, while Courtney Beals added eight. Cassidy Cook nailed three treys in the game before sustaining a knee injury.

“Cassidy was having a big game and was making a big impact before going down. Injuries come with territory. I feel like we’re kind of snake-bitten this year, but we’re not going to make a lot of excuses,” Carter said.

Elkin fell to 0-14 on the season with the loss and 0-7 in the Mountain Valley Conference.

The Elks return to the court next week with two road games against West Wilkes on Tuesday and North Wilkes on Friday night looking for their first win of the season.

Despite being winless, Carter said his team is still “digging.”

“The kids have kept their heads up and I’ve been proud of them,” he said. “They’re disappointed, but they haven’t gotten discouraged, which is what I keep telling them, ‘you have to keep digging and keep playing.’ We’ve played better.”